Summer Reading

We are only a few months away from summer reading. It gets holiday busy, especially on the weekends. We'll have several customers in the kids section at once usually shopping for more then one child. Everyone is trying to get all the books they need which is about 3 or 4 books per child. So I get to play one of my favorite games - How many books can I find without using the computer? With that many customers the computer just slows me down. I'll be on a roll then a customer will throw me a curve ball giving me a list filled with out of print books. Unfortunately there are some schools that do not update their reading list. While others require their students to read a specific ISBN but they haven't checked to make sure that it's still available. Both of these problems are very annoying. I mean how hard is it to make sure all the titles on your reading list are imprint. I also wish schools would make sure the required book, is available in paperback. Some parents can't afford to buy hardcover. Also its summer vacation paperbacks are easier to travel with. I don't even read hardcovers on vacation. So has much as I loved Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret, I hope I only see it on reading lists as a title students can select but are not required to read. Some schools have some really nice titles/authors their students can choose to read. Like novels by Sarah Dessen, Sharon Flake, Patricia Mccormick, and Markus Zusak (last year I am the Messenger, showed up on a reading list) I hope Nancy Werlin's Rules of Survival and Coe Booth's Tyrell will show up on a few lists this year. I enjoy the rush of the summer reading season